Murder conviction overturned in Blackwater homicides

The Blackwater homicides that occurred in 2014, are, officially back in the headlines. A group of men who illegally opened fire on Iraqi women and children — have found out their fate. According to court documents obtained by The Daily News, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Dustin Heard, and Evan Liberty were convicted in 2014. In that conviction, they were hit with numerous murder/homicide charges apart from federal charges in the U.S.

Slatten, perhaps, is the key point in this case — largely — due to his lack of getting a fair trial on his own. Slatter, was the only guard on duty at the time actually accused of and convicted of murder. According to the same documents, the other three men, were each sentenced to 30 years in prison for manslaughter.

Although on Friday, a US appeals court ruled that the court who sentenced the group of men to manslaughter “overstepped their boundaries in the sentencing” and this sentence(s) “constitutes cruel and unusual punishment”.

Additional documents obtained by The Daily News indicate that the rather unusual charges came from the fact that “they used military-grade weaponry during the attacks” which led to the harsh charges for military equipment.